Mission Drop Leaf Computer Desk, 32-Inch Solid Wood Folding Desk for Small Spaces - Compact Home Office Writing Desk by Leick Home (82420) - Perfect for Apartments, Dorms & Workspaces

What you see in the pictures is what you get. The desk has a solid build and clean presentation. No, it's not assembled from solid oak planks, but it also doesn't cost $600. I don't have the woodworking expertise to tell you much about all the negative reviews, but I did spend my 20s limping from one Sauder to the next. This product is substantially better than anything I've ever gotten in its price range.What I look for is obvious places for a stick-on veneer to start peeling or unsound structural joins. This desk has neither. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you do not simply turn screws into wood. Leick has sunk metal anchors into the wood (picture attached).As the material says, this desk is very easy to assemble. As a 6' tall, 220 pound guy, I had little troubles assembling it myself. Bless the person that decided that every customer-installed bolt should be exactly the same size!There are only two steps (depending on how you count steps, of course), but essentially you start with the unit upside down, attach the three sides, then attach the floor shelf. When I was looking at the directions, my prediction was that flipping the unit back to its upright position would be the hardest part, and that turned out to be true.In that second step, you need to manually suspend the shelf while attaching it to the legs. Since this desk has no visible exterior bolts, this attachment is done from the inside out. If that's not making sense, picture your typical Sauder-type furniture: there's a hole in the outer shell and you stick a screw through that and into the inside piece. Conversely, the Leick furniture has a hole on the inner piece and you stick a bolt through that into an anchor on the back/interior side of the outer shell. So, with the Sauder-style, you can sit on the floor, hold the suspended piece with one hand while driving straight in from the outside. With this piece, you can sit on the floor and hold the shelf up, but then you won't be able to see what you're doing. And, since it's a metal screw (no pointy end), it takes a bit more guesswork to blindly guide it into the anchor than a wood screw. After a bit of trying to get a screw into the center/rear leg, I decided instead to thread into one of the side legs. That was easier. As soon as I had the first bolt set, the rest was a snap.Reading back over that, I made it sound worse than it was. I don't think that I spent more than a couple of minutes total on the lower shelf. If you're much smaller than I am, though, get some help. Two people of any size working together will have no problems assembling this unit.As other reviews have stated, this unit is a bit small for a 6' person to use as a computer desk. I adapted very quickly, though. The drawer is too small to use for a keyboard and mouse and for someone of my height, it's too low anyway. It's true that you can't get a chair with arms adjusted for a 6' person under the desk, but I don't know what's a problem (rolling the chair under at night?). My elbows are resting on my chair arms and I'm typing comfortably.Leg room is OK... If I sit with my knees bent at the ergonomically-correct 90-degree angle, the top of my legs just barely make contact with the bottom of the desk. Not nearly enough to bother me. As I shift during a normal work day, I have no problems. I occasionally bump up against that lower shelf, but that hasn't been any big deal either.I think this unit would be ideal as a writing desk for someone of my height, but as a computer desk I think it would be better suited to someone a few inches shorter. If you're in that 6' range like I am, then you're already accustomed to a world designed for someone a few inches shorter, so it's about what you expect. If you're much taller than I am, I would look for something else.